Revelation 11:5 - Exposition

And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; if any one willeth to hurt them, etc. Most probably a reference to the act of Elijah ( 2 Kings 1:10 ). Perhaps there is a double reference in the fire proceeding out of their mouth; it is the fire of their witness, which refines and purifies and convinces some; it is also the fire of condemnation, which follows those who reject the testimony. The figure is found in Jeremiah 5:14 , "I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them" (see also Hosea 6:5 ; Ecclesiasticus 48:1). And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed; any one shall will (future) is read in the Revised Version, and is supported by א , A, 38; θέλει , (present) is found in B, C, P, Andreas, Arethas. "In this manner;" that is, by fire . Such, throughout the Scriptures, is the form under which the final judgment of those who reject God's message is shadowed forth. The description is not more opposed to a general interpretation than it is to an individual interpretation of the two witnesses.